Agnes Gund has been the president
of Museum of Modern Art since 1991. When she was a child her mother used to take
her to Saturday morning art classes at the Cleveland Museum. He father collected
western painting. She was only 15 when her mother died, since she was the oldest
she had to help take care of the five younger children. Her father was George
Gund, Jr. He was president of Cleveland Trust Company for twenty five years. He
made a lot of money when he sold his rights to Sanka coffee. Agnes has always
been interested in art. She once had a twelve foot high steel and lead baseball
mitt on her front yard in Greenwich. She was elected a trustee of the Museum of
Modern Art in New York in 1976. In 1977, after New York City budget cuts
eliminated art classes in the public schools she founded the Studio in a School Association.
It brought artists to New York City public schools to help children develop their own sense of art at an early age.
The program even helped raise the reading scores of the students. Ms. Gund was
awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 1997. Agnes Gund is
married to Daniel Shapiro, a lawyer, has four children and lives in New York
City.
Image courtesy of Agnes Gund
2000, by Sotiri, fourth grade
BACK